“The Role of the Missouri Court of Appeals” by Richard T. Ashe
Trial court judges are not perfect and, like all people, they occasionally make mistakes. The Missouri Court of Appeals exists to give litigants a forum to address these mistakes, whether perceived or real, and to seek a remedy for any harm caused by the mistake. The Court of Appeals is not, however, a forum to address every conceivable mistake.
In a case without a jury, a trial court judge’s primary role is two-fold. He or she must decide: (1) what the true facts are based on his or her assessment of the credibility of the witness testimony and other evidence; and (2) how Missouri law applies to the facts.Mistakes can be made in connection with either of these issues.
From the perspective of the parties, the former is often the most important: Did the judge accurately determine the true facts of the case? If a party believes a judge is mistaken about the facts, and this perceived mistake affects the outcome of the case, that party’s first reaction may be to appeal the judge’s findings of fact to the Missouri Court of Appeals.
From the perspective of the Missouri Court of Appeals, however, the latter is really the only issue that matters: Did the judge accurately state the law of Missouri and did the judge correctly apply the law to the facts? The reason for this is that a judge sitting on the Court of Appeals did not see any of the witnesses testify and cannot make an independent judgment about the credibility of the witnesses. Only the judge sitting on the bench at trial is in a position to determine the credibility of witnesses and, therefore, the trial judge is the only one in a position to determine the true facts of the case.
As a rule of thumb, therefore, the Court of Appeals is generally only willing to review perceived mistakes by a trial court judge that concern the judge’s statements about what the law of Missouri is, and how the law of Missouri applies to the case facts (as separately determined by the judge). The Court of Appeals is generally not a place for a party to re-try the facts of their case.